COMPASSIONATE young people from Port Glasgow have secured a prestigious honour for their school by standing up for their rights. 

St Stephen’s High has received the Silver Rights Respecting School Award from UNICEF UK.

The accolade is granted to schools which show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights, and encourage adults, children, and young people to respect the rights of others. 

Achieving the silver honour means St Stephen's is making 'excellent progress' towards embedding the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in its ethos and curriculum.

St Stephen's started working towards Rights Respecting Schools honours in August 2023, and was awarded bronze in September last year, before recently securing silver. 

Sharon McKenna, principal teacher of social subjects, and rights respecting schools co-ordinator, said achieving the accolades within a short space of time was an 'excellent achievement' and the whole school was 'very proud'. 

She added: "We've been commended for how quickly we've achieved the silver honour. 

"We want to go for gold now, and hope to achieve that before the end of this year.

"There's a substantial amount of work involved, and we have to send all the evidence away to show the panel we're putting rights into action. 

"The whole school community has come together to put children’s rights at the heart of what we do.

"We're very proud of the young people and the amount of work they've put in."

Around 25 young people at St Stephen's formed a steering group to drive the project forward. 

With young people from S1-S6 represented, they presented at assemblies and encouraged discussion on themes including wellbeing, refugee communities, Black History Month and International Women's Day.

Third year pupil Jack Bradley says it's vital that young people fight to have their rights reflected across the whole school. 

He added: "If there was no steering group, pupils would feel like they didn't have a voice in the school. 

"We're helping to give the school community a voice. 

"Receiving the silver award means that we're actively trying to turn these rights into reality."

The steering group met with award assessor Steven Kidd, who was very impressed with the work being done.

He added: "The pupils were confident and demonstrated an impressive knowledge.

"Adults and young people alike believe that rights are everywhere in St Stephen's."